Matrox Parhelia-512 Preview Author: Drew Lanclos Date Posted: May 15th, 2002 Article Navigation Introduction Three Heads Are Better Than Two Features 2D Features Breakdown That's Great, But How Does It Quake? Conclusion Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> Discuss This Article

Introduction

Matrox announces the chip that could mark their return to the graphics card war. Get ready to drool as we take a look at the Parhelia-512.

Since the demise and assimilation of 3dfx, there have really only been two competitors in the enthusiast PC graphics market: NVIDIA, and ATI. After the shutdown of 3dfx, ATI's renewed product push helped them to slide into the second-place seat formerly owned by 3dfx. Other competitors like STMicro, 3DLabs, and (snicker) BitBoys Oy, either sat on their laurels, or exited the enthusiast market entirely.

Matrox also used to play a lesser role in the 3D war - The Matrox G400 was a competitive card in its day with cutting edge features and impressive 2D quality. Ultimately, however, its "good, but not the best" 3D performance was superseded by repeated advancements by both ATI and NVIDIA, leaving Matrox's cards in the dust. Matrox produced some newer variants of the G400, adding dual-DVI support and some other new features like "Headcasting" (See our G550 preview (link it) here). Ultimately, however, these proved to be unworthy for the attention of the enthusiast community, and the cards managed to only make inroads in the business sector.

However, Matrox and many websites have been banging on the rumor drum for months on end, originally hoping for a release of the G400's rumored successor, the G800, over two years ago. The G800 never saw the light of day, unfortunately, but as of now, Matrox is trying its hand once more with the enthusiast market by announcing its forthcoming chipset, "Parhelia".

Three Heads Are Better Than Two

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Article Navigation Introduction Three Heads Are Better Than Two Features 2D Features Breakdown That's Great, But How Does It Quake? Conclusion

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